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| Haircut Phobias |  Haircut phobia or tonsurephobia is a sense of fear and anxiety before a visit to a hair salon. Due to this reason people, who suffer from it, avoid visits to a hairdresser. This kind of phobia has a negative influence on confidence, self-esteem and appearance.
There is no exact reason for haircut phobia. It cannot be necessary the fear of small children before their first haircut. It is known that women are more prone to it comparing with men. Phobia is fear of an object or situation expressed in an excessive form that leads to severe distress, avoidance, and has a negative impact on the people’s life. The symptoms of hair phobia are: 1) a strong and persistent fear of hair cut, 2) a constant anxiety or avoidance of the fear object. 3) anxiety appears as soon as any possibility of hair cut is available. Anxiety can turn into a panic attack.
Haircut phobia has negative consequences. One man who suffered from male haircut phobia experienced shame and ridicule by strangers who thought that he was a girl because of his long hair. One of the causes of fear of haircuts is a previous bad experience, for example fear before the first haircut in the childhood. It is rather a physiological problem those cause should be treated at first. Be sure that the first haircut of your children is not associated with negative experience. Another cause of such phobia is a fear of sharp blades that are at a close contact to a head. Phobia can be social caused by a fear before a new haircut that leads to people’s laugh and mocking. It is fear or anxiety caused by situations when people are not evaluated by others due to their expectations. The cause of such phobia is low self-esteem. Thus, a haircut phobia may lead to a greater problem. If the cause is a fear of social evaluation, a person may suffer from social anxiety disorder that interrupts normal activities. Such people should apply to a qualified mental health professional for help, because haircut phobia is a serious physiological problem that can lead to negative consequences.
Haircut phobias are treated with the cognitive-behavioral therapy. The cognitive part of this therapy technique is the change of the person’s way of thinking about the fear object. A therapist will change the thoughts of a person about haircuts and makes him to think about it positively. The behavioral component of this therapeutic treatment is the change of people’s reaction while confronting the fear object. The process of exposure can be used for this purpose. The therapist asks the person who suffers from it to read a magazine about haircuts. Then he asks him to handle tools applied by hairstylists, such as scissors, razors, brushes, and combs. Another form of treatment is to spend some time at a hair salon observing how other people get haircuts. The treatment is finished with getting by an individual his own haircut accompanied with no excessive or irrational fear. Another methods of haircut phobia treatment are also possible. It is very important to overcome a haircut phobia, it is necessary for a person’s confidence, self-esteem, and appearance.
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